


Easier

by doughts



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-06
Updated: 2013-01-06
Packaged: 2017-11-23 23:03:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/627479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doughts/pseuds/doughts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fluff, implied sex, and extra fluff on top. Regina's late night musings about love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Easier

It was easier, somehow, with Emma. Loving another man would have felt too much like trying to replace Daniel, trying to fill a hole that was his exact size and shape in a way that she knew wouldn't work. On the other hand, it was rather surprising that she could love another woman. It wasn't something that was talked about very much in Once Upon a Time, or if it was, she had never seen it.  


Maybe the surprise made it easier. It didn't feel like a betrayal of her love for Daniel. She hadn't come looking for Emma and had fought as hard as she could to keep the foolish and stubborn woman out of her life. But Emma had the kind of magic she’d been looking for her whole life. Enchantments and spells could allow her to steal the hearts of others, but somehow Emma managed to do all of that without even trying. People trusted her instinctively, people loved her instinctively, and she didn't have to steal in order to get it. Maybe it was growing up with her mother, but she had never learned how to let people love her. Then again, ripping out the heart of the one person she had left who loved her probably didn't help matters. It just put a hole in her heart to match the one that Daniel left.  


Holes that were starting to sting less, now that she had Emma. Regina smiled at the blonde asleep on their bed. Emma was naked and had flung off the covers, having somehow managed to overheat in the middle of the night. Regina had no idea how. She was snugly wrapped in the sheet Emma had flung off with great gusto, and her feet were freezing. Carefully and quietly, she snuck out of their room and down the hallway, trying not to wake Henry. Neither she nor Emma was ready to tell him about their affair. Regina snorted to herself at that. Admittedly, most of the hesitation was on her end. She was referring to it as “their room” and was still unwilling to tell Henry about their relationship. Some part of her was still terrified that Emma would up and leave her, deciding that loving her wasn't worth it any more.  


Rolling her eyes at her foolishness, Regina carefully stepped over the creaky step on the stairs and headed over to the kitchen to put the kettle on. She left the spout up so it wouldn't whistle despite the fact that she knew that the walls in the house were soundproof enough to keep any screams in the bedroom or the kitchen and that Henry was a sound sleeper. Originally, that hadn't been a way to keep bedroom noises from waking Henry. It had been a quiet place for her to work and sometimes torture if the mood ever struck her. One of the first things she had done when Emma started sleeping over more often was to get rid of all of the torture implements and magical artifacts she kept under her bed, just in case Emma decided to go snooping.  


Carefully, she opened the cupboard and set a mug on the counter. She startled a little bit when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Shyly, she turned around and looked down with a smile on her face that wasn't real and always meant she had something to hide. Emma smiled warmly at her and rubbed her arm. Regina softened a bit, her smile warming by degrees.  


“You know you don’t have to look like you've done something shameful right? You came downstairs to make tea. I would love a cup, by the way.” Emma smiled softly at her queen, still gently rubbing her arm. Regina softened a little more at the kind words, noticing that Emma had somehow managed to steal her favorite robe. It was haphazardly tied and there was still plenty of skin showing. Looking down at the sheet that was haphazardly wrapped around her body, she wondered why she didn't think to grab a robe.  


“I… Didn’t want to wake you, you seemed so peaceful.” Regina had also been using the comforting ritual of making tea to settle her nerves and calm down the jitters and anxiety that always sprung up whenever she couldn't fall asleep right after sleeping with Emma. Judging from the fact that Emma was giving her a rather knowing look, she could tell. Regina looked down a little further, still amazed that just a look from this woman could bring her to her knees. “And some part of me is still terrified that you will leave me, because I haven’t known anything beyond Daniel, beyond a love that was torn from me and I’m still scared that I won’t ever be able to love in the same way again.” Regina’s voice caught and she was starting to cry. She inhaled deeply, and her mask was back in place. Emma gently pulled her into a hug at that, softly rubbing her back.  


“I am staying. You are the other mother to my son and we share him. We are tied by that if nothing else. And no matter who you were in the past, no matter what you've done, you can make up for it. You can change and you can grow. You've already started to do that. You've already started to become someone who Henry will be proud to call his mom. I know you, and you've told me about how you used to be with Daniel and you’re starting to be the person you were before he died. I’m proud of that person.” Emma hugged Regina tight and then moved away to kiss her forehead. She moved the kettle off the stove and turned the burner off before grabbing a handful of Regina’s sheet and running up the stairs. “Besides, I have your sheet.” Emma darted up the stairs, taking the sheet with her, trailing out behind her. Regina refused to chase her, instead proceeding up the stairs and heading back to the bedroom rather sedately, smiling all the while. It was certainly easier for her to love this woman who understood her so well.


End file.
